Rochester’s Defense Comes Up Big In Win Against Toronto

April 7, 2019 By: Luke Conner

The Knighthawks hosted the Toronto Rock on Saturday night during their 2nd annual Cradle for the Cure Night. The Knighthawks welcomed fans from all over to come join the battle against cancer and help raise funds and awareness for the CURE Childhood Cancer Association.

With the Knighthawks eliminated from the playoffs they were not only playing for a good cause, but also for pride.

The first quarter saw very little offensive action between the two teams. With the opening goal coming from Toronto’s Kieran McArdle, Rochester followed with 2 goals of their own from Kyle Jackson and Brandon Robinson. Toronto then responded with a second goal from Rob Hellyer and the first quarter closed tied 2-2.

The second quarter however saw an offensive attack from the Knighthawks. Ryan Benesch notched 2 goals in the second and individual goals were scored by Cody Jamieson, Colton Armstrong, and Mike Burke. With Toronto getting one goal from Billy Hostrawser, the Knighthawks held a (7-3) lead going into halftime.

The third quarter saw great offensive showings from both teams, with the Toronto Rock outscoring the Knighthawks 5 to 4. Mike Burke and Tom Schreiber each scored a pair for their respective teams as Rochester held onto a (11-8) lead going into the 4th quarter.

Toronto tried to complete their comeback in the fourth quarter scoring two goals while the Knighthawks offense stalled. The Knighthawk defense stood tall in the final minutes, highlighted by a shot clock violation and a save from Warren Hill that led to a scoop and score on an empty net. That tally would be the Knighthawks one and only goal of the quarter and came in a timely manner with 6.6 left on the clock as the Knighthawks would go on to win 12-10.

With the win, the Knighthawks improve to 4-11 and have won back-to-back games. While the Toronto Rock drop to 10-6, they are playoff bound and will almost certainly be the 3rd seed in the East Division.

Next week the Knighthawks travel to Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth at the Pepsi Center on April 12^th at 9pm ET. The Rock will also play on April 12th as they welcome the New England Black Wolves to Scotiabank Arena for a 7:30pm ET tilt.